Hardly any chapter in Austrian modernism is as electrifying as that of the artistic rivalry between Egon Schiele and Oskar Kokoschka. The exhibition Egon Schiele and Oskar Kokoschka. Rivals at the Egon Schiele Museum Tulln (March 28 to November 1, 2026) is the first comprehensive exhibition to focus on this tense relationship, which was much more than a competition over questions of style. It was a race between two exceptionally talented young men who, at the beginning of the 20th century, were determined to change the art world—and to make their mark on it.

Starting with their early beginnings, the exhibition shows how Schiele and Kokoschka developed, in parallel but in completely different ways, the expressive style that would come to define Austrian Expressionism. Both moved in similar circles, sought patrons, broke taboos, and radically questioned the image of humanity of their time. But by 1918 at the latest, their rivalry culminated in a historic moment: both artists saw themselves as the legitimate heirs of Gustav Klimt—a claim that set the tone for one of the most momentous duels in art history.
While Schiele died of Spanish flu a few months later, frozen at the height of his creative powers, Kokoschka was left behind – with an overwhelming shadow that accompanied him for decades. The exhibition traces how this invisible rivalry continued to strengthen Schiele posthumously and had a lasting influence on Kokoschka's work.
Curator Christian Bauer describes the relationship as "a struggle for visibility in an art world in upheaval." The accompanying exhibition catalog, edited by Bauer and Bernadette Reinhold, deepens this perspective and focuses on the network of relationships between the two artists as networkers of a new era.

VR experience "Egon Schiele: A Personal Encounter" © Amilux Film

But the Egon Schiele Museum looks not only at Schiele's public universe, but also at his private one: at five audiovisual stations, visitors encounter the original voices of his sisters Melanie and Gerti, as well as his sister-in-law Adele Harms – intimate memories that impressively ground the artist's biography.
A special highlight is the VR experience "Egon Schiele: A Personal Encounter": an immersive dialogue with Schiele at the end of his life, realized by Gerda Leopold and Sebastian Endler. The presentation is complemented by interviews with collector Elisabeth Leopold, who died in 2024, who recounts her encounters with Schiele's contemporary witnesses in the researchers' corridor on the upper floor.
In this way, the exhibition links great art history with personal traces of life—and makes it possible to experience how closely genius, urgency, and human fragility were intertwined in Schiele's work.
March 28 to November 1, 2026
www.schielemuseum.at